Seth Udinski, FISM News
On Tuesday morning, word broke from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that U.S. women’s gymnastics standout Simone Biles had withdrawn from the team finals competition following an injury. Reports at the time said little about the nature or severity of the injury. Many Americans were concerned that this injury was devastating and possibly career-threatening, but according to recent reports, it was not serious.
Biles spoke to the media after the team finals and said her decision to withdraw from the competition was due to mental health reasons. She said,
You have to be there 100%. If not, you get hurt. Today has been really stressful. I was shaking. I couldn’t nap. I have never felt like this going into a competition, and I tried to go out and have fun. But once I came out, I was like, ‘No. My mental is not there.’
All signs are pointing to Biles continuing on in Tokyo, but there has been no official report that she will or will not compete in any more events.
Without their captain, Team USA still made a valiant effort at gold and ended up winning the silver medal in the team finals competition. Russia and Great Britain rounded out the winners podium with Russia taking gold, and Great Britain bring home the bronze.